First off, we see the Stoneflesh Mutant, whose name is obvious once we see its ability: it is a moveable Wall! Well, let us be precise: you can summon next to Stoneflesh as if he were a Wall; there are several game effects that happen to or around Walls, but they do not affect Stoneflesh. But the possibilities for him are intriguing, given the way the Filth can swap Mutations in and out. Figuring out nasty things to do with Stoneflesh will be left as an exercise to the reader. Look for him in the upcoming Reinforcement Pack, Saella's Precision.

Splack is the second Swamp Orc Champion from Bellor's Retribution, Murk being the first one previewed. It should come as no shock to learn that Splack has a new way of placing Vine Walls on the Battlefield. But it is happy news to learn that he can place them without destroying anything -- all he has to do is attack! Hit or Miss, if the Unit is still there, he can spend a Magic Point and plant a Vine Wall underneath his target. This can be very annoying to enemies who may find it difficult to move away without killing the vines first. Splack's only regret is that he cannot pin down Summoners this way, but he will be a welcome addition to many Swamp Orc armies.

Until next week!

Posted by Bryan StoutBryan Stout is a contributor to PlaidHatGames.com

Comments

Hmm, I see a lot of potential with Stoneflesh. Assuming you have a lot of Magic and a surviving Mutant in enemy territory, you can switch in Stoneflesh, summon a common and bring in another Mutant. Then swap out Stoneflesh to a stronger Mutation. Gonna need that Owl, though.

Initial thoughts:
Since you can mutate Stoneflesh onto any common, then immediately summon more, wow, that's powerful. Heck, you can mutate Stoneflesh, summon something else, then switch the Stoneflesh out for another mutation that can attack. Since its whole benefit is in the summon phase, it could theoretically never be on the field during your opponent's turn.

Rocky's pretty good, two-cost hints at combo with Bestial. I always thought Filth only molded their flesh to their means, etc. Godshome was a good escape to rationalize stones popping out of flesh. Could've been Filth demonic magics that coulda done that, tho.

Not much to say about Splack, another interesting, cheap SO champ that can generate Vine Walls. It's nice to get him out early game and threaten a swamp expansion or a Savager summon.

Rocky is my favorite new mutation for the Filth, just ahead of Loudmouth and Spongey. I had a ton of fun with him in playtesting, especially with the "Fatty Gambit", which involved charging Fatty into enemy territory and banking on him surviving, then tagging in Stoneflesh, summoning something big, and tagging back out to Swifty or Birdie and charging with 2 big mutants. It's tough to get your hand right for that, but it's so cool when it happens.

Splack is very fun as well... SO are another faction (like MV) that I have trouble picking champions for. All 3 of the reinforcement champs work very well in a variety of decks, as do Glarg and Splub. Tough to pick out 3... I also like all of their commons.